Comin' In On a Wing and a Prayer: Batman & Captain America

Batman/Captain America (October 1996)
"Batman & Captain America"
John Byrne

Doug: It's hard to believe this, as well as many of the other latter-day wave of DC/Marvel crossovers, is 20 years old. Seems like only a few months ago I eagerly awaited this offering to reach my 30-year old paws. Even in the mid-90s, if John Byrne was involved, a project was still going to be big news. But... did this disappoint then, and what about now as seen through the eyes of a curmudgeonly middle-aged school teacher?

No, in answer to the first question, it did not disappoint then. John Byrne's one of those guys who "gets" comic book history. Well, for the most part (the Vision debacle, for which he shall never be forgiven on this space, aside). This book is one big homage, or love-in, or whatever else you want to call it with the Golden Age of these two lead characters. Right from the Batman's first appearance, we can see that Byrne is emulating the style of Dick Sprang, mostly fondly remembered for illustrating the adventures of the Dark Knight Detective in the 1950s. But here I go again, getting ahead of myself. Of course we first need to give you that nifty little plot summary called the 100-Word Review:

Toward the end of the War, Captain America and Bucky are ordered Stateside in order to investigate millionaire Bruce Wayne, believed to be secretly bankrolling sabotage of the Gotham Project (known to history as the Manhattan Project). Batman and Robin are tracking down the Joker, who has been stealing secrets of the Project. During Cap’s surveillance of Wayne, he and Batman learn one another's identities and collaborate to find the Joker. They find that the Joker and the Red Skull are themselves collaborating, but the unpredictable Joker soon turns on the Skull – and that means war of another kind!

If you've never laid eyes on this book, it's a 64-page prestige format graphic novel. And it looks great, which brings us to...

The Good: Yes, it does look great! The art is splendid throughout and the coloring (credited to Patricia Mulvihill) is phenomenal. I don't know that I'm qualified to discern or discuss coloring innovations of the 1990s, but it's fairly obvious that Mulvihill was able to employ then-modern computer coloring techniques without losing the four-color charm that many of us cling to. 

Byrne's pencils are magnificent. Some criticisms (maybe just of mine) of Byrne in this period are that his art had become flat, or scratchy, or that his figures' torsos were sometimes oddly elongated. None of that is here. In fact, if you ask me to compare eras of Byrne's career, I'd gladly put this alongside his work in the Claremont/Byrne/Austin heyday of the Uncanny X-Men or his collaboration with Dick Giordano in the Man of Steel limited series. It's that good. 

His writing is spot on as well. I mentioned at the top the homages to Dick Sprang's art. Byrne captures the spirit of the era in his writing as well. It's not over-the-top sappy or dated in any negative way. But you can just hear Cap or the Batman talking "that way" if you were watching this on film at a Sunday matinee. The inclusion of Sgt. Rock and Easy Company, when Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos would have been included, was a nice touch. Great job of further blending the universes.

There are a few twists in the story that caught me off guard when I read this the first time twenty years ago, and again a couple of weeks ago when I re-read it. That the Joker would double-cross the Red Skull because the Skull was a Nazi seemed strange -- was it the racism, the world conquest, or the supreme egomania that turned off the Clown Prince? It was never stated, but the Joker's seeming patriotism struck an odd note. I'm not saying it was bad... not at all. In fact, it was good because it was so unexpected.

In addition to the wonderful splash of the Batcave, late in the story there is (of course) a perilous trap, timed to kill Batman and Bucky (the crossover with the sidekicks was fun). It definitely hearkened to the days of the cliffhanger endings popular in the serials of the 1940s as well as to the 1966 Batman television series.

Byrne gives a "thanks" to Roger Stern for the epilogue of the story. It's a nifty "What If?", as 20 years after the War Batman and Robin are patrolling the ocean for any signs of the Joker... Junior. "Jr.", huh? Well, this ain't yer daddy's Batman and Robin. Nope -- this is Dick Grayson wearing the mantle of the Bat and Bruce Wayne, Jr. as Robin. And as they pilot the Bat-sub, what's in that ice floe they find up ahead? I think you know what (or who) it is...

The Bad: I guess if I have one complaint it's that Bucky got a little short-shrifted in this story. He has a moment here and there, but largely it's Robin who does the more-heroic stuff. Bucky sort of comes off as a whiner, which I felt was interesting given that I'd have assumed Bucky to be older at that time than Robin -- maybe a little more mature. Too, and if we are to believe the Winter Soldier retcon (which obviously wasn't a thing yet when Byrne penned this story), I'd have liked to have seen Bucky as a bit more take-charge. But then, and as I've said, whenever I was reading the Invaders I never thought of Bucky as carrying out any "collateral damage".

Oh, and another thing -- when the Joker stole the atomic bomb, Fat Boy, and it went off in the Atlantic after our heroes worked their (lucky) magic, what are we to assume? In our reality, the bombs dropped on Japan were nicknamed Fat Man and Little Boy. So in this story was there only one bomb, and if so, was the atomic destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki not to pass? This is in no way a situation that ruins this story for me. Far from it. But it just left me to wonder. Sooooo many universes! Someone should write a Crisis...

The Ugly: Nada.

Check this out if you're able. It's been reprinted in one of the Crossover Classics volumes, and can probably be found at your LCS or online for only a buck or two. It was a nice half hour diversion, and one I'm glad that after all these years I read again.

If I Had A Buck... Summer Annuals!

Martinex1:   The calendar may not say Summer has started yet, but the kids are out of school and the neighborhood is filled with the sounds of basketballs bouncing, the squeals from trampolines and pools, the sing-song of ice cream truck tunes, and the bursts of firecrackers.

I have always enjoyed June and remember the childhood joy of waking up with no cares, wolfing down a bowl of Fruit Loops and slamming through the screen door to get outside for another day of whiffle ball, street hockey, eating snow cones, and firefly catching.   I clearly remember sticking my paper route money into the elastic of my knee-high tube socks and sprinting across the four-lane intersection to the corner drug store to look for the latest comics on the spinner rack.

And it was around this time of year that the Annuals started appearing.   Not one, but TWO issues of The Avengers on the rack at the same time!  Big thick 50 cent editions of Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, and  Marvel Two-In-One were there also!  I quickly decided to skip the blue-raspberry Slushee, Marathon Bar, and Bottle Caps and get as many comics as I could.  

Annuals did not always contain the best scripted stories or the usual art team, but there was something magical about them.  The first annual I purchased with my own money was Amazing Spider-Man Annual #11.  It contained a rather pedestrian story about a trio of stuntmen hired to wear spider-like super-suits to take on our beloved Peter Parker.  It contained some of the first artwork of John Romita Jr. and to this day I still wait for those rather weak villains to make another appearance.  I must have read that issue thirty times that month.  It is strange how much I remember about that book from the venom tipped rapier to the scene with Mary Jane repeating her lines as a movie extra, "Peas and carrots.  Peas and carrots."

Another favorite of mine was Avengers Annual #9.  I picked that one up at a 7-11 in Colorado on a family vacation road trip on the way to the Grand Tetons.   The convenience store was adjacent to a KOA Campground where we stayed for a night, and my brother and I were out exploring.   This one had Don Newton art and the tale of Arsenal, a doomsday type robot, living in the sub-basements of Avengers Mansion.  I read that comic until the cover fell off.  I remember getting scolded by my Dad because I was reading in the back seat of the car instead of enjoying the majestic mountain scenery of the American west.  Decades later I replaced that issue with a much less worn copy from Doug's ebay offerings.  Others may say that the best Avengers Annual was #7 with the Thanos showdown or #10 with the Michael Golden art, but this one is all about nostalgia for me so it remains my favorite.

So here we are together yet again for another $1.00 Challenge.   Spend your money wisely as you choose just two issues this time (hey, they are double-sized after all) from the long list of selections below.  Whether you want 64 pages of humor or heroes, let us know what drove your decisions.  From Atlantis Attacks to Archie, what were your Summer Annual and seasonal memories?   Which year presented the best set of annuals?   And what were your all-time favorites?

Thank You to Those Who Serve

Doug: To all who serve and have served, the Bronze Age Babies say "thanks" on this Veterans' Day (formerly Armistice Day in commemoration of the end of World War I). Joe Kubert's Sgt. Rock perhaps says it best:

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Discuss: War Comics

Doug: It's Veterans' Day here in the States; perhaps it's still called Armistice Day elsewhere (I'll confess my ignorance). So in honor of those who serve and have served, let's delve into a comics genre not often dealt with here on the BAB -- war comics, and the creators who wrote and drew them.

That Zany Bob Haney: The Brave and the Bold 108

The Brave and the Bold #108 (August/September 1973)
"The Night Batman Sold His Soul!"
Bob Haney-Jim Aparo

Doug:  I found it!  I finally found a Bob Haney-penned piece that was way more enthralling than zany.  This is a really good story, and the team-up of Batman and Sgt. Rock isn't forced or unbelievable.  This should be a nice little romp for us today.  So shall we?

Doug:  We open in upstate New York, near the Canadian border.  Batman has cornered a hood named Mad Dog Dorn, who happens to be holding a young boy hostage.  His demands are a ransom of $250,000 -- I guess inflation these days would drive that up a bit, huh?   However, Batman informs Dorn that he has the wrong kid.  The kid laying passed out in the shack in which Dorn is holed up is a poor kid who happens to be very sick.  Batman tries to convince Dorn to let him in so he can give the kid some medicine.  Of course, fish ain't bitin'.  So, Batman storms the place, hurtling himself through a window.  Dorn doesn't spook, though, and levels Batman with a bullet to the torso.  And again -- if you'd just whacked the Batman, wouldn't you want to see who he really is under that cowl?  Heck no!  You'd drag him by his feet and dump him down a well, that's what you'd do!

Doug:  The water revives Batman, who laments his wound and the amount of blood he's losing.  Helpless to get out of the well, he cries out, "I'd give my soul to get out of here!  I don't want to die!  Batman wants to live!"  OK -- I'll buy that.  But wouldn't it have been a bit more noble, I mean if you're going to make a deal with the devil, to at least say you'd like to live long enough to save the little boy?  Anyway, suddenly a bucket on a rope descends, and Batman grabs hold.  He's drawn up and out by a mysterious stranger -- an old man in a top coat and hat, his face obscured.  Batman notes that the man has an accent and walks with a limp.  Batman's wounds are treated by the man, who muses to himself how strong Batman is, and that he's glad he saved him.  As Batman comes round, he thanks the stranger -- who walks toward a 1940's-era car.  The old man again tells Batman how happy he was to aid him.  And with that they part company and Batman returns to the shack.

Doug:  Mad Dog's nappin', and a karate chop to the back of the neck ensures that he won't awaken any time soon.  Batman is able to give the child some medicine, and that's that.  Back in Gotham, Commissioner Gordon is holding a press conference to announce the capture of Dorn.  Suddenly Bruce Wayne strolls by, remarking in a quite haughty manner that Gordon should be sure to give the Batman credit for the capture.  Gordon thinks to himself what a fop Wayne is, and questions how he could ever be a friend to the Batman.  Wayne exits, but once outside his wounds act up and he about goes down.  Cue the mysterious stranger who appears without warning.  He refuses to name himself, but says that he has gone by many names.  He also reminds Wayne of their bargain.  This is obviously off-putting to Bruce as his secret is out.  Wayne again expresses his gratitude, but as the man leaves he shouts back "Do not come any closer!"  Wayne's injuries won't allow it anyway.

Doug:  But that doesn't stop Bruce from shuffling after the guy, and as he wearily reaches out, grabbing an arm, he's shocked to see that the man he's touched is not his benefactor, but Sgt. Rock!  Rock tells Wayne that he's been trailing the same guy we've seen -- and that he's really Adolf Hitler!  Heading into Part 2, Rock is at Bruce Wayne's place and they discuss Rock's allegations.  Rock takes Wayne back to the end of the War, and they discuss the long-held rumors that Hitler had several body doubles.  Rock says the last time he saw Hitler was actually a few days after his April 30 1945 suicide.  He then spent years trailing him, to Greece, Paris, and now to Gotham City.  This is an interesting scene, because Rock is played as hard-as-nails, while the Batman seems doubtful -- of Rock and of his own feelings about the situation.  Rock asks Wayne if he'd like to go back to the cabin near the Canadian border; Wayne concurs.

Doug:  Rock and Wayne fly back to the shack, and upon further investigation discover that it's a Nazi hide-out.  After flying back to Gotham, Wayne enters a cab.  And who should already be seated in the back?  That's right.  He speaks of an "empire of evil", and of needing strong soldiers under its banner.  Batman will be one such soldier.  Wayne again says he is grateful for his life being saved, but that he owes nothing further.  The man says that he will indeed serve evil, and that they will meet again.  The next evening, Batman accosts a hood -- he wants to check in on the guy.  But instead, he spooks him.  Scared, Willie Gans runs right into the path of an oncoming truck and is killed instantly.  The Batman is later told by Gordon that Gans had gone straight; Gans' widow blames Batman for her late husband's death.  Later, the phone rings and a now-known voice says that he told Batman that he would end up doing the work of evil.  The Batman has blood on his hands!

Doug:  Soon Batman receives another call, from Gordon about a riot at the Gotham airport.  Batman arrives to find Sgt. Rock being restrained.  He'd seen the man he thinks is Hitler, but was stopped from killing him.  This leads Rock to reassemble Easy Company.  At this point all of our heroes change scenes, to the Alps.  Once there they follow leads and end up on a train.  As he leaves Easy Company, he tells Rock to wreck the train if Batman isn't out by midnight.   Batman boards, but is immediately stopped by the Federal German police.  He's shown an old man -- apparently the man they seek.  He claims to be a Doktor Ritter, who is a Nazi-hunter.  He is not, as Rock continues to claim, Adolf Hitler.  Batman is shocked at this revelation, and blurts out that Rock is about to destroy the train.  This is all the German inspector needs to know, and his men fire on Easy Company.  Batman now sees this as a trick, but he's knocked unconscious.

Doug:  Batman begins to rise, still in the cabin car.  But the voice he hears is not that of Ritter, but of the old man who'd saved him!  Batman is told that he has indeed committed acts in the name of evil, and it's intimated that this cloaked figure may be the Devil himself.  Batman finds out that Rock is alive, he's pumped about that, and then a brawl breaks out on the roof of the train.  As they speed along, the train tracks shift and the train pulls into a cave -- filled with Nazi symbols and weapons.  All hell breaks loose, and as Easy Company fights hard, Batman takes off in pursuit of the mystery man.  A hand grenade slows him down, and he loses the trail.  Rock isn't happy about it at all -- he's still convinced that the guy is Hitler.  Batman philosophizes that whether he is Hitler or not, the spirit of Hitler's evil is still alive.  And then we cut to the final panel, as a grizzled old man limps away -- a man who looks an awful lot like a bent, gray-haired... Hitler.

Doug:  This, as I said above, was a fun story.  Bob Haney did a good job of keeping us in a state of "is he or isn't he?" about the cloaked man.  I still find Haney's handling of Batman all over the radar.  Sometimes he's the Dark Knight Detective, but at other times he's just a doofus.  But as we've remarked about Silver and Bronze Age DC's, that's sometimes what you got from their bullpen.  Jim Aparo was solid as he has been; I particularly liked his rendition of Rock sans helmet.  The white hair and steel-strong complexion made me think of him as George C. Scott's Patton.  In closing, unless anyone has a better suggestion, I think the next time I revisit the Brave and the Bold, I'll look at issue #104 with Deadman.